Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Button Wednesday : Perfume Button

It is Wednesday again, so it's BUTTON DAY on my blog !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's a "perfume button" ? I found three types. The first one was made in the late 1700s and the early 1800s. The buttons had hollow tops that could be twisted off, providing space to carry a small wad of perfume-soaked cotton. The domes were perforated so that the perfume could escape. Women wore those buttons with perfume in them so as not to stain their clothing. I found this pair of cufflinks made of such perfume buttons.

A later type was made in the late 1800s and this type had a design on velvet set in a metal rim. Women put perfume on the velvet instead of on themselves. They would also stitch one of their perfume buttons under their lovers' collars as a constant reminder of their presence......

A third type was made much later in the 1940s; they were brightly colored plastic buttons that held solid perfume and paste rouge. The fronts resembled cameo buttons in high relief, and the secret compartment was created when the top screwed off the base. Here some pictures:

Have you seen a lovely, beautiful, stunning, crazy button or button-related thingy, or did you make something with a button / buttons, or did you even make buttons yourself, blog about it on your blog on Wednesday, and give the link here in the comments so that everybody can enjoy it !!